THE second round of Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) presented plenty of close shaves and a couple of blowouts in both the men’s and women’s divisions. Sandringham and Dandenong enjoyed a percentage boosting wins against Altona and Craigieburn respectively in the Under 16 Boys while Hawthorn and Keilor impressed in the Girls.

U16 BOYS:

 POOL A:

Frankston got on top of Coburg downing the Giants by 23 points in the opening game for Pool A. The Blues were led by Alexander Dimic who managed nine points for the match but there were a host of other players that stepped up to the plate, with five players recording five or more points to guide Frankston to victory. Hawthorn well and truly flexed their muscles against Bulleen running out 37 point victors in a strong showing. The Magic had three players notch up double figures while the Boomers only had one.

Frankston (44) defeated Coburg (21)

Alexander Dimic (Frankston) 9
Mason Krone (Frankston) 8
Saul Beckford Saunders (Coburg) 7

Bulleen (36) defeated by Hawthorn 2 (73)

Jesse McIntosh (Hawthorn) 15
Phoenix Windsor (Hawthorn) 15
Harrison Beauchamp (Bulleen) 11

POOL B:

Sandringham put on an absolute spectacle against Altona in Round 2, piling on a whopping 95 points to 29. The Sabres seemed to have all the answers and made light work of Altona limiting any easy access to the basket while sharing the load around to create a multiplayer pronged attack. On the other hand it was a closer contest between Kilsyth and Hawthorn however it was the former that managed to get the job done claiming their second win of the season largely in part to Curtis Putney who starred with 22 points.

Kilsyth (52) defeated Hawthorn 2 (37)

Curtis Putney (Kilsyth) 22
Tom Bromhead (Hawthorn) 9
Isaac Ghosn (Kilsyth) 8

Altona (29) defeated by Sandringham (95)

Adrian Cole (Sandringham) 18
Rhys Starow (Sandringham) 17
Oscar Humble (Sandringham) 12

POOL C:

It was two very different stories in Pool C with Dandenong walking all over Craigieburn in the first game while Diamond Valley had their work cut out for them against Latrobe. In the end the Rangers proved way too strong for Craigieburn piling on the scoreboard pressure and limiting their opponents options in attack. For the Eagles their persistent nature enabled them to grind out  the game against Latrobe and steal a 10-point win to secure their second win of the season.

Dandenong (84) defeated Craigieburn (37)

Tadhg Boyle (Craigieburn) 15
Tullan Chimyong (Dandenong) 13
Luke Fennell (Dandenong) 12

Diamond Valley (59) defeated Latrobe (49)

William Dean (Diamond Valley) 19
Zak Johnson (Diamond Valley) 17
Noah Johnston (Latrobe) 10

POOL D:

It was a similar scoring pattern for both games with the two victors in Ballarat and Casey registering 50-plus points and the losers Eltham and Nunawading only managing tallies in the 30s. Ballarat got over the top of Eltham thanks to the services of Ned Renfree who slotted 21 points while for Casey it was damaging duo Truman Byrne and Sebastian van den Brink that led the charge with a combined 28 points.

Eltham (38) defeated by Ballarat (52)

Ned Renfree (Ballarat) 21
Nicholas Robinson (Ballarat) 12
Jett Williams (Eltham) 12
Matthew Zrna (Eltham) 12

Nunawading (30) defeated by Casey (51)

Truman Byrne (Casey) 14
Sebastian van den Brink (Casey) 14
Grantham Milner (Nunawading) 8

POOL E:

It was a close contest between Geelong and Knox with United narrowly getting the job done to claim their first win of the season. Geelong fought tooth and nail to steal a five point win while the Knox slump to their second straight loss. The other game in Pool E saw Keilor continue to inflict their dominance registering a 24 point victory over the Tigers who struggled to worry the well-oiled machine that is the Thunder led by Jai Prince.

Knox (39) defeated by Geelong (44)

Jesse Ombega (Geelong) 15
Brady Hall (Geelong) 11
William Jones (Knox) 8

Keilor (50) defeated Melbourne (26)               

Jai Prince (Keilor) 18
Calvin Whicher (Keilor) 6
Geordan Hitchiner (Melbourne) 6

POOL F:

Pakenham notched up their first win of the VJBL season edging out Kilsyth by 18 points inspired by Joshua Greig and Harrison Canning with the duo proving to be exactly the spark they needed to get over the line. The other game was a much closer battle with the victor decided by a mere two points and Knox in the end claiming the bragging rights despite the best efforts of McKinnon. The win takes their tally to one win, one loss as they look to build on some continuity.

Pakenham (59) defeated Kilsyth 2 (41)

Harrison Canning (Pakenham) 15
Chayse Vincent (Kilsyth) 15
Joshua Greig (Pakenham) 14

Knox (44) defeated McKinnon (42)

Riley White (Knox) 10
Trent Hotton (McKinnon) 7
Rod Ali (Knox) 7

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U16 GIRLS:

POOL A:

It was a mixed bag of results for Hawthorn with their seconds suffering a loss and their firsts demolishing their opponents claiming an 85 point drubbing. Knox made their intentions clear hitting the scoreboard with ease and taking care of Hawthorn to secure a 35 point win with Erica Cid leading the way with her 14 points. The Magic had five players reach double digits on the scoring front with Georgia McBean backing up her efforts from last week to once again star with 18 points.

Knox (53) defeated Hawthorn 2 (18)

Erica Cid (Knox) 14
Mikayla Blias (Knox) 9
Chelsea Puls (Knox) 8

Hawthorn (98) defeated Broadmeadows (13)

Georgia McBean (Hawthorn) 18
Emma McDonald (Hawthorn) 15
Isobelle Wightman (Hawthorn) 14

POOL B:

In terms of winning scores it is fair to say that 49 seemed to be the magic number as both Sandringham and Melbourne secured victories posting that score. Melbourne Tigers toppled Diamond Valley Eagles in the opening game of Round 2 for Pool B to claim their second win of the season and reduce the Eagles to one and one. Nunawading put up a good fight against the Sabres but fell short thanks to Natalia Hordejuk paving the way for the winners.

Diamond Valley (35) defeated by Melbourne (49)

Mackenzie Reddrop (Melbourne) 16
Ashton Simmons (Diamond Valley) 11
Bonnie Autupuna (Melbourne) 8

Nunawading (38) defeated by Sandringham (49)

Natalia Hordejuk (Sandringham) 16
Jasmine Stocks (Nunawading) 11
Jazmyn Murphy (Nunawading) 10

POOL C:

It was a disappointing round for Eltham with neither side able to record a win going down to Casey and Bulleen respectively. Bulleen looked slick against Eltham 2 claiming a strong 25-point win while Casey secured a 12-point victory. Tahlia Leeson impressed for the Boomers with 16 points while Kyra Webb and Victoria Meredith combined for Casey.

Bulleen (46) defeated Eltham 2 (21)

Tahlia Leeson (Bulleen) 16
Keilani Kwan-Wing (Bulleen) 9
Ella Rowe (Bulleen) 7

Casey (40) defeated Eltham 1 (28)

Kyra Webb (Casey) 9
Victoria Meredith (Casey) 9
Lucy Christodoulou (Eltham) 9

POOL D:

Dandenong  got on top of McKinnon with a 55 to 27 win in round two of the VJBL. Dandenong simply proved too strong for McKinnon who could not get any easy access to the basket while Dandenong applied a wealth of scoreboard pressure. It was a different tale in the Kilsyth against Latrobe Energy game with the latter sneaking away with a six point victory. It was a hard fought contest between the two sides with Latrobe pulling away at the right time to claim their second win of the season.

Dandenong (55) defeated McKinnon (27)

Kailey Neave (Dandenong) 9
Sophie Taylor (Dandenong) 9
Ella Cardiff (McKinnon) 9

Kilsyth (31) defeated by Latrobe (37)

Hannah Day (Kilsyth) 12
Taleesha O’Kane (Kilsyth) 12
Emily Scholtes (Latrobe) 10
Asha Nightingale (Latrobe) 10

POOL E:

Keilor made light work of Wyndham to collect their second consecutive win and showcase their dominance over the competition. The Thunder seemed to have everything go their way both in offence and defence as reflected through this 60 to 19 win. Geelong also recorded a victory in round two overcoming Bellarine by 20 points thanks to the spirited efforts of Indiana Schwartz.

Keilor (60) defeated Wyndham (19)

Ruby Murphy (Keilor) 13
Jelena Savic (Keilor) 12
Ava Densley (Wyndham) 11

Bellarine (24) defeated by Geelong United (44)

Indiana Schwartz (Geelong) 10
Matilda Sewell (Bellarine) 8
Rae El Adam (Geelong) 7

POOL F:

It was an intense battle between Collingwood and Nunawading with the latter getting the wood over Collingwood in a close contest. In the end there was only eight points separating the two sides as the Spectres notched up their first win. In the other game it was Ballarat that reigned supreme over the Blues securing a 17 point win and their second victory so far.

Collingwood (40) defeated by Nunawading (48)

Madeline Potts (Nunawading) 13
Katie Harrington (Nunawading) 13
Arek Akot (Collingwood) 12
Keira Lindemans (Collingwood) 12

Ballarat (51) defeated Frankston (34)

Georgia Bodey (Ballarat) 17
Lily Woodland Boyanton (Ballarat) 8
Elli Symonds (Frankston) 8
Jamie Paxton (Frankston) 8

Picture credit: Keilor Thunder Facebook page